Blog entries about web design & development, our clients, our projects, our company, and more

Request a Quote Forms: Good or Bad?

Posted August 23, 2010 @ 6:06 PM, by Marc, in Business, BWS, Client — 6

I’ve always wondered if it’s a worthwhile effort for a service-based company to build, then field inquiries from, a request a quote form on their website.

A What?

Well, Query McCheery, a request a quote form is similar to your average contact us form, but it has additional fields that ask for project-specific details such as:

• Type of project
• Project goals
• Project budget
• Project deadline
• Special considerations
• …and so on

A visitor who is searching for a company that provides services they are in need of will often fill out a request a quote form to start the conversation between themselves and the company. The purpose of such a form, for the company anyway, is to act as a filter for project inquiries. If someone uses the form to submit information that is not inline with the service company’s offerings, project or client goals, availability, etc., then a polite email can be sent back that says, in more words than this, thanks, but no thanks.

This type of form could be quite useful in a variety of industries; naturally I think of the website design and development industry first, yet there’s obvious potential for others such as wedding planning, auto restoration, interior decoration, custom furniture, and so on.

Sounds Great, Lets Do It.

Not so fast, Speedy McNeedy. There are plenty of reasons why it may not be a good idea to have a request a quote form on a website. I can think of a few off the top of my head:

• Nobody likes to fill out a form, and if it’s too lengthy it will be ignored.
• If it’s not clear that the form is merely the start of the conversation, the visitor may feel that working with the company will be very one-sided.
• If the form asks for information that the visitor does not have, they may feel that they’ve reached a dead-end without any way to continue.
• Similarly, if the visitor has important information on-hand that the form doesn’t ask them for, they may feel that the company doesn’t care enough to dig into the details.

You can see how having such a form might lead to a misunderstanding that can result in a lost opportunity rather than the intended goal: an easy way filter good projects inquiries to the top.

Maybe it’s a Bad Idea Then.

Hold on a minute, Downer McFrowner. It’s worth further investigation, isn’t it? What if there are companies out there who utilize a request a quote form and find it to be indispensable? Similarly, what if there are visitors out there who would find this type of form far more convenient when shopping around for service providers? Think about how quickly a visitor can decide to stay or move on based on a budgetary question in the form such as:

What is your budget? Please choose one:

$5,000 - $7,500
$7,500 - $10,000
$10,000 - $15,000
$15,000+

In this fake example the visitor intends to spend only $2,500, so they immediately know that they should consider a different company. They’ve wasted far less of their valuable time—and the company’s—with emails, phone calls, and questions. Think about how well a request a quote form could work in situations like this; a visitor sees the questions and all possible answers and can quickly determine whether or not the company will be a good match for their particular needs and situation.

It’s akin to visiting an automotive dealership and seeing the price on the window-sticker; you know whether or not you should pursue learning more about the vehicle based on the information that is in plain view.

OK, Lets See What People Think.

Lets stop riding the Speculation Express and get real data instead. I created a quick survey and asked others to share their thoughts on the subject. Below you’ll see that I created the survey to ask about request a quote forms in the context of web design and development agencies, but I’d be willing to bet that there’s overlap when using such a form in the context of other industries.

The public survey had the following questions and answers:

Question #1: In your opinion, should a design/development agency’s website offer a request a quote form?

• Answer (Option A): No. Users often consider the form either too generic, or too long and intimidating.
• Answer (Option B): Yes. Users often consider it to be a convenient way to get the ball rolling when inquiring about a project.

Question #2: Which better describes you?

• Answer (Option A): I am somebody who creates websites for other people or companies.
• Answer (Option B): I am somebody who hires agencies to create websites.

Following these two questions were an optional Comments box and an optional Your Name box.

The Results of the Survey.

Here’s how the results broke down:

• 64 people took the survey.
• 53 of them described themselves as somebody who creates websites for other people or companies.
• 11 of them described themselves as somebody who hires agencies to create websites.
• Of the first type of person (creators), 26 said the form was a good idea, while 27 said the form was a bad idea.
• Of the second type of person (buyers), 8 said the form was a good idea, while 3 said the form was a bad idea.

What stands out is the number of buyers who feel that a request a quote form is a good idea. Now, if there were more than eleven responses from buyers, that number may have been quite different, but we write our blog entries with the information we have at hand, don’t we? DON’T WE?

We could stop here and conclude that all service-based companies simply should have a request a quote form on their website—eight out of eleven people who want to give their money in return for a service have stated that they prefer the form—but lets keep going and discuss the other information gathered from the survey.

Why are Creators so Evenly Divided?

Another number, or pair of numbers in this case, that stand out are those from the group who describe themselves as creators—these are designers, developers, project managers, and the like. Among them, the “A request a quote form is a bad idea” option was the winner, but it won only by one response; it seems as though creators are just about evenly divided on the subject. Prior to creating the survey, I would have guessed that the percentage of creators who believe a request a quote form to be a bad idea would have been much lower.

Now that I’ve spent time reading through the responses provided via the survey’s Comments box, I may have a fair guess as to why this is the case: it’s hard to determine what the perfect request a quote form should consist of. Knowing that it’s purpose has to be conveyed clearly, that it’s length needs to be just right, and that it needs to improve the existing process of filtering good and bad project inquiries, somebody in my position – a creator – wouldn’t be unfairly judged for assuming that not having a request a quote form at all is a safer bet than having a bad request a quote form. Doing it wrong may be considered worse than not doing it at all.

Here’s What I Think.

Service-based companies should have a request a quote form on their website, there’s little doubt about it. The form needs to be the perfect combination of size, clarity, and improved filtering efficiency, so I’d strongly recommend giving the design and development of the form a lot of thought—think about who the average customer is for the industry as a whole, then think about who the ideal customer is for the particular company.

Don’t be afraid to tweak the form over time to get the best results, swapping in and/or out certain questions, changing some of the field labels, clarifying the surrounding context to educate the visitor, and so on. As with all good things on the internet, the first version that goes online is rarely ever the best version.

What do you think about request a quote forms?

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